


Mistaken Identity, Unmistakable Love

by ChibaCityBaby



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Angst, Explicit Sexual Content, Humor, Love, M/M, Minor Character Death, Mistaken Identity, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-24
Updated: 2014-09-06
Packaged: 2018-02-14 12:47:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2192388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChibaCityBaby/pseuds/ChibaCityBaby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a devastating loss, Jensen’s life changes in a way he couldn’t have predicted.  Struggling to keep everything together, he meets Jared through a case of mistaken identity.  This is a story of love and loss, redemption and how far will you go once you meet “the one”.   Told in both Jensen and Jared’s POV.  In this world there is no such thing as homophobia and anyone can marry who they want without judgment.  So, really it’s the perfect world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

Disclaimer: I don't own these people (obviously) and no money has been made (dang it). None of this is true, it never happened, I make things up all the time.

 

Prologue

The park was practically deserted when Jensen’s mom sat down on the bench next to a lady with dark brown hair and eyes that reminded Jensen of the summer sky and gently pushed him towards the sandbox to play. Clutching his brand new transformers in his hand tightly he ran towards the sandbox, never knowing how long he was going to have to play.

He stopped dead when he saw another boy there, scooping sand into a bright orange pail. Blue eyes looked up and the boy smiled at him.

“Hi, my names Chris. Wanna play?” Jensen grinned back and climbed over the side of the sandbox, sitting down carefully across from Chris, careful not to kick the structure Chris was working on.

“I’m Jensen,” he said quietly and held up his transformers, “I just got these for my birthday last week. You can play with one if you want” Chris inspects them and another fast grin lights up his face.

“Those are so cool. Wanna help me build this. I wasn’t building anything special but now maybe we can build them like a superhero lair?”

Jensen smiles happily and picks up a green pail and a yellow shovel lying next to it. “Sure.” This is the best day ever.

Chris talks nonstop while they play and Jensen listens. He doesn’t talk much, has heard his mom say things like, “he is such a quiet boy” but it doesn’t seem like Chris minds. He just keeps talking and Jensen nods a lot and smiles.

By the time their mothers are forcing them to leave, they have decided they are best friends.

 

 

Chapter One

It turns out their mothers liked one another too, so even though they hadn’t yet started kindergarten they have several play dates over the next several months. They live just a few streets away from one another in a sleepy suburb, and by the time school comes around they have even had a sleepover, which was awesome. They had slept in sleeping bags in the living room, Chris’ mom had made them popcorn and they had watched movies until they couldn’t keep their eyes open.

Chris doesn’t have a Daddy like Jensen but when Jensen asked him quietly about it, Chris just got mad and shoved him a bit. He looked sad and Jensen felt terrible, immediately running to his side and hugging him. Chris had hugged him back and sniffed a few times and they had never talked about it again.

Not only do they go to the same school, they are in the same class, which thrills both of them to no end. They get cubbies that are beside each other and are partners for everything.

That first week they decided to explore the school yard a bit and had rounded a corner to see a small girl sitting on some steps crying. Jensen felt awkward, shifting from side to side but Chris sat down beside her right away and asked, “Hey there, what’s wrong?”

The girl looked at him, tears in pretty brown eyes and sniffed. “Katie says I can’t play ‘cause I got red hair.” And she does. Its bright red, almost like a penny but Jensen thinks it’s nice and also thinks he doesn’t like Katie ‘cause she sounds mean.

Chris says solemnly, “Your hair is real pretty and you can play with us. I’m Chris and this is my best friend, Jensen.” The girl looks at Jensen then, noticing him for the first time and smiles a little.

“My names Danneel but everyone calls me Dannii.”

And the trio of best friends is finally complete.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

“JENSENNNNNNNNNNNN,” is yelled down the corridor and Jensen smiles to himself in fond exasperation as he hears Dannii running to catch up to him.

She finally reaches his side and does an exaggerated bend over, as if she ran a marathon and not a hallway. Finally, she recovers and grabs him by the sleeve and says, “I HAVE to talk to you.” Pulling him around a corner she looks nervous, completely unlike herself. She is pretty, and if 15 year old Jensen had any interest in girls he would be in love with Dannii. Her red hair had darkened and her body had developed and she was gorgeous. And she was his best friend, well, one of them.

They stand there looking at one another for a moment and Jensen makes a gesture of “well, out with it” and she blurts out, “Chris asked me to be his girlfriend.”

Jensen smiles because he already knows. “Of course he did Dannii, he’s been in love with you since kindergarten.”

Surprise colors her pretty face and her cheeks pinken. “Really?” She looks down, biting on her lip.

Jensen laughs softly and says, “Duh, same as you’ve been in love with him.”

Her eyes flash up to his face and he sees the truth there. Chris and Danneel and Jensen had been best friends since that day in kindergarten, the three musketeers. And Jensen loves both of them, but the love they had for one another was just slightly different. More intimate. Special smiles and lingering touches, flushing faces when they sit too close to one another.

Dannii finally nods a little, breathless. “But what if we don’t work as a “couple?” I don’t want to lose one of my best friends.” She looks scared.

Jensen puts his arm around her and pulls her into a hug. “Not gonna happen, you two are meant for one another.” Dannii hugs him back and whispers, “Thank you Jen.”

 

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

It’s five months before senior year and Jensen can’t wait. Lacrosse is awesome and so are his classes. He and Matt had broken up over the summer so now he was single and enjoying the odd hook up at the various parties he hits on the weekend. He had grown out of his awkward phase and now gets more than enough attention.

He is lying on his bed reading his advanced calculus book without actually reading it when he hears Chris thump up his stairs. He doesn’t hear Dannii’s dancer footsteps and he sits up. They are rarely apart so it’s strange that it’s just Chris.

His door flings open and Chris is standing in front of him, chest heaving, a sheen of sweat covering his forehead and a panicked look in his bright blue eyes.

“Dannii’s pregnant.” Jensen stares at him dumbly. Pregnant? But Dannii is only 16.

Chris drags a hand through his hair and sits on the edge of Jensen’s unmade bed. He stares at Jensen’s dresser where the transformers they had played with all those years ago still were displayed, although a purple My little Pony stood between them, representing Dannii.

‘We’re uh-we’re gonna keep it. The uh-baby.”

Jensen’s mouth falls open and he stares at his best friend. “How are ya gonna keep a baby Chris?”

Chris turns to him with a fierce look on his face. “I always planned on marrying Dannii anyhow. And we already talked about wanting kids. Sure, it’s soon, but neither of us want to get rid of it, or give it up. Dannii’s parents are furious, threatened to throw her out if she doesn’t get an abortion,” and now there are tears in Chris’s eyes. “She staying with me and my Mama now. I got a job so I can afford to pay for some stuff and Mama is gonna help with the rest. We got a little money from when my Grandpa died last year.”

Jensen’s head is swimming. He can’t imagine his two best friends as parents. They were all just stupid kids still. And now they were having one. He looks at Chris, sees how scared his best friend is, how worried he is that Jensen is going to judge him, judge Dannii and makes a decision. He shuffles over and throws his arm around Chris and says, “How can I help?”

Chris throws his arms around Jensen suddenly and hugs him tight. Jensen can tell Chris is crying and he holds him close, rubs his hands up and down his friends back, whispering words of comfort.

Whatever happens, he is going to be there for Chris and Dannii and their baby.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Hunter Elizabeth Kane is the tiniest thing that Jensen has ever seen. She is pink faced and full lipped and despite being a month short of his 18th birthday, Jensen is in love. He holds out his finger and she wraps a little hand around it. Sleepy blue eyes stare up at him and he smiles.

Dannii is holding her and Chris is on her other side, hand carding through Dannii’s hair, watching. Dannii is smiling down at Hunter lovingly.

Hunter’s mouth pops into a perfect ‘O’ and she smacks her lips together a few times, eyes flickering shut.

Jensen stares at her a while longer and finally Dannii speaks in a soft voice. “Chris and I want you to be the Godfather, Jensen.”

He is touched and honored and hugs them both awkwardly. It hasn’t been an easy seven months. Once she started to really show over the summer, Dannii had decided to finish high school online. It was practical considering even once she had the baby she was going to need to be home with her. Chris’s mom was great but she wasn’t in the greatest health and worked full time despite that. Chris works at the music store full time over the summer and part time during the school year. Jensen helps out when he can. He works at Fratelli’s pizza doing deliveries and even though Dannii and Chris won’t take any of his money, he has been stock piling clothes and diapers and baby food for the last couple of months. His Mom and Dad had been amazingly supportive of Chris and Dannii, his mom helping Jensen pick out things to help the young couple. In fact, his parents had bought the new car seat, sitting on top of the counter of the hospital room, pink bow still attached.

Touching Hunter’s soft cheek once more, Jensen smiles down at the sleeping baby and whispers, “Hey Hunter, I’m Uncle Jensen. I’m your Godfather.”

XOXOXOXOXOXO

The call comes when Jensen is looking after Hunter one night in the spring of his senior year. She is four months old, teething a little, but still the cutest baby he has ever seen. His mom is supervising of course. Chris had asked Jensen to watch her. He wanted to take Dannii out and when he showed Jensen the black box with a tiny diamond ring nestled inside, Jensen had been thrilled. He couldn’t wait to hear how Dannii would react to Chris’s proposal.

Instead the call he gets changes everything.

Chris’s car had been hit dead on by a semi. Driver had been high as a kite, didn’t even veer out of the way or hit the brakes. Chris and Dannii were both dead on impact.

Jensen cries until he feels brittle, like a piece of paper about to blow away. He holds Hunter close to him as if in his arms he can protect her from not losing her parents. His Mom and Dad move around him, patting his shoulders, murmuring words of sorrow. Both have tears running down their cheeks, and when Chris’s mother arrives, the look of devastation on her face matches Jensen’s own. She holds her hands out for Hunter and Jensen reluctantly lets her go, only to be folded into his own mother’s embrace. With each sob that rattles his body, his heart breaks over and over again.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO  
Chris is laid to rest four days later. Jensen stands beside his parents numbly, watching the casket lower into the ground. Its raining lightly and he thinks its fitting. Dannii was buried the day before, her parent’s grief overwhelming as they hadn’t been in contact with her, hadn’t met their granddaughter. They don’t want to meet her, Dannii’s mom says to Jensen that afternoon in a furious tone, and Jensen hates her. But they had at least allowed her to be buried with the ring Chris had put on her finger that night and he was grateful for that. Dannii would have wanted that.

The next morning Chris’s mother arrives with Hunter and Jensen lets out a relieved breath he didn’t realize he had been holding. He needed to be with Hunter. She was his little angel, with her patch of dark red hair and bright blue eyes that twinkled just like Chris’s. She was his last link to his two best friends.

Jensen puts Hunter down for a nap and walks into the kitchen. His parents are sitting with Mrs. Kane and they are arguing. She is holding some papers in her hand, waving them as she talks and Jensen’s father is saying things like “He is too young, he can’t do that, you can’t expect that” and his Mom has tears in her eyes. Jensen clears his throat loudly. They all turn and stare at him.

Chris and Dannii had made him not just godfather, but legal guardian of Hunter. Of course when they did so, they imagined it wouldn’t be needed, it was something that they had to fill out as new parents at the hospital. And of course it would be Jensen, their best friend who had been beside them every moment of the pregnancy and every moment before.

He listens to Mrs. Kane talk about how her health makes it impossible for her to raise a baby and he listens to his father talk about his scholarship to U of T and his future. His mother talks about how young Jensen is, just turned 18 last month.

In a quiet voice, Jensen finally speaks. “They wanted me to have her. She’s mine. I’m gonna raise her. For Chris and Dannii.” The resolve in his voice is unwavering.

And Jensen becomes a single father.

6 months later.

JENSEN

Jensen pulls his ten year old Toyota truck up outside ritziest hotel in Dallas and snorts lightly to himself. Why anyone would stay at the Elite Gardens and yet order a pizza was completely beyond him. He stares at the twinkling lights of the entrance and looks down at the receipt on the box. Yep, this is the place all right. Room 1220 apparently.

He sighs tiredly, insanely grateful that this was his last delivery of the night. Hunter was crawling now which meant his downtime was spent chasing after her increasingly quick forays around the house.

The last six months had been difficult for Jensen to say the least. After announcing his intention to raise Hunter, his parents had been initially angry. After realizing that he couldn’t be swayed, they had rallied, of course. They loved Hunter too, they just didn’t want to see Jensen throw away his future.

Having more than enough credits, Jensen had graduated early, opting not to walk with the rest of his class. After all, his two best friends were gone, the only two people he would have wanted to share that experience with.  
His parents wanted him to stay with them, but it was impossible with him starting university. Instead he had rented a small apartment near campus, having been allowed the option due to his status as a student who was also a parent. Between his Mom, Mrs. Kane and his Dad, he managed to have enough child care for Hunter. Mrs. Kane had given him the settlement from the truck driving company of the trucker who had killed his best friends, pushing the check into his hand forcefully, whispering her sadness at not being able to do more for her granddaughter, insisting in a harsh tone that the money was for Hunter. It was a large check, the company’s insurance had paid handsomely for the wreck but Jensen didn’t care. It went into a separate account for Hunter and emergencies. School was covered by his scholarship and his parents paid for the extras for the apartment. Despite having enough money, Jensen had insisted he keep his delivery job. He loved Mr. Fratelli and his wife Ava, and they had been amazing to him during this huge change in his life. He only worked when he could, they went as far as to schedule everyone else around Jensen. And maybe it was only delivering pizzas but it gave Jensen some much needed time to himself. Between classes and homework and Hunter he didn’t have much time for anything else. He hadn’t even been on a date since the accident, much less gotten laid and he was entirely too familiar with his right hand at this point.

Getting out of the truck he runs his hands through his spiky hair and pulls at the too tight tee shirt. Hunter had gotten baby food on him as he was handing her over to Mrs. Kane that morning and he had grabbed the first one he put his hands on. It was a faded blue, stretched too tight over the muscles of his chest and back and barely covering his abs. He tugged on it unsuccessfully, then gave up and untied his apron quickly. He didn’t want to look any stupider walking through the fancy lobby of the hotel.

Grabbing the extra-large pizza box, he makes his way to the hotel entrance and smiles at the guy who opens the door for him with a lavish movement. The guy is wearing a full on uniform complete with white gloves and he gives Jensen a wink as he walks through.

Jensen swallows hard at the sheer extravagance of the lobby and fights the urge to pull his shirt down again. He eyes the bank of elevators off to one side and gratefully makes his way towards them, jabbing the button a few times. His eyes tilt up to see which one will make it to him first.

Door #3 opens and he smiles politely at the elderly couple that disembark from it. He gets inside, noticing it’s just as fancy as the rest of the place and hits the button for the 12th floor, idly humming along with the Muzak playing softly in the background.

A soft bell chimes his arrival at the 12th floor and he gets off, stopping for a moment to figure out which hallway to go down. He sees the numbers ‘1200-1240 and an arrow pointing left and he heads down. Stopping in front of room 1220 he knocks softly and tugs at his tee shirt. Thank god this night is almost over.

The door swings open and Jensen is struck dumb momentarily. The guy on the other side is probably the hottest guy Jensen has ever seen. A few inches taller than Jensen’s own six feet, the man is huge and built. His white dress shirt is pulled across impressive chest muscles and the sleeves have been rolled up, revealing tan, corded muscle covered lightly with dark hair. The bright red tie at the man’s throat is loose. Eyes traveling up, he takes in the too long hair, slightly messed up like the man had ran his fingers through it too many times during the day, the tilted eyes that seem to be no color and every color at once and the wide pink mouth. Holy shit the guy was like a walking wet dream.

The man gestures him in impatiently, a small smirk on his face before turning and heading towards a dark, walnut table in the corner of the impressive room. Jensen steps in timidly, intimidated by the man and the sheer opulence of the room. There is a white sofa in front of a fire place, plush thick rugs in a muted gray and a huge bed off to one side covered in a deep red, expensive looking cover. He swallows and looks up in surprise as the man steps in front of him once again.

The man rakes his gaze up and down Jensen slowly, and Jensen feels a blush rise over his cheeks, as if the gaze is a touch rather than just a look. The man smirks and leers a little and says, “You’re an hour early but since you brought dinner with you, I’m not complaining. I’m fucking starving.”

Jensen, confused, looks down at the receipt. The time the order was placed is stamped on the top of it, clearly showing 9:43 p.m. He consults his watch and notes it is only 10:22. How does that make him an hour early? He looks up at the man questioningly but the man is already talking again.

“They said 15 when I called, which I thought was a bit much, but now that I see you,” and the man gives Jensen that once over look again, “it might just be worth it.” Jensen flushes and bites his lip, looking down at the receipt once again. He has no fucking idea what is going on right now.

The man is clearly waiting for him to speak so he stutters out, “uhm, it’s actually $17.50 before-uh-you know, tip.” He flushes again but meets the man’s eyes.

The man smiles, dimples popping out on each side and then chuckles. He moves in closer to Jensen, taking the pizza box out of his hands and placing it on a glass table to the side.

“Well kid, I was quoted 15, and as for a tip, well, you’ll have to really impress me for that.”

Jensen is officially lost. Prove it how? He drove the pizza over here. He brought it up the elevator. How much more was involved than that?

He loses his train of thought when the man moves in even closer and Jensen finds himself backing up a little, until he hits a wall behind him. The man is gorgeous, hits absolutely everything on Jensen’s “fuck yeah” scale for a guy and he smells amazing. Sure, he’s a bit older than Jensen but who really cares when Jensen is half hard in his jeans and the guy hasn’t even touched him?

So when the man reaches up with one huge hand and cups his cheek, Jensen looks up into kaleidoscope eyes and decides, ‘what the hell.’ Sure this is kind of the bad plot of a 70’s porn (seduce the pizza delivery guy) but considering he hasn’t seen any action in months he figures he deserves this.

The man touches Jensen’s full lips with the tip of one finger, and groans when Jensen allows his tongue to come out and lick at it lightly. He stares at Jensen’s mouth and says, almost to himself, “Fuck your pretty.”

Jensen kind of wants to bitch at that, because he is a guy, so he’s handsome, not pretty but he doesn’t get a chance because the man pushes forward and presses his lips hungrily to Jensen’s, tongue sliding out and immediately into the hot cavern of Jensen’s mouth. And holy fuck can this guy kiss. Jensen’s arms go around the man’s neck and he presses himself forward into the wall of muscle.

He hears the man moan and suddenly huge hands are on his ass dragging him close. He feels the man’s hard cock against his stomach and rubs against the huge length, almost whimpering because, fuck it’s been way too long for him.

They kiss for what feels like seconds, or minutes or hours, he isn’t sure, but by the time the man pulls away, Jensen is panting and his cock is harder than it’s ever been.

The man stares at Jensen for a moment and then moves to undo his pants and Jensen thinks to himself, “hell fucking yeah” and sinks to his knees. He has got to taste this guy right fucking now. Jensen has fooled around some, and knows he is great at sucking cock, well according to the few guys he has done it to. So when the man pulls out the biggest, most gorgeous cock Jensen has ever seen (and the guy is proportionate of course) Jensen doesn’t hesitate. He leans forward and licks at the red tip already leaking with fluid, before taking almost the entire thing into his mouth. He doesn’t have a gag reflex, never did which has come in handy when cleaning up baby puke and changing diapers and why the fuck is he thinking about that shit when he has the world’s best cock in his mouth?

He bobs his head a few time, letting saliva pool in his mouth and when he feels the cock twitch in his mouth and a blurt of precome hits his tongue, he moans like he is dying for it. The man growls above him, and grabs at Jensen’s hair, just this side of hurts so fucking good and lightly thrusts his hips towards Jensen. He is muttering things like “fucking gorgeous” and “best idea Mike ever had” and “holy fuck” but Jensen isn’t really paying attention. He is too busy trying not to come in his jeans just from blowing this guy.

Suddenly the man pulls Jensen away from his cock and Jensen practically whines with the loss. Before he can protest too much the man pulls him up and close, kissing him deeply and muttering, “You keep doing that shit and I’m gonna come way too quick and I wanna be in you for that.”

The man lifts Jensen up, cupping his hands under Jensen’s ass and Jensen yelps slightly and winds his legs instinctively around the man’s narrow waist. The man kisses him as he carries him without any effort, before dropping Jensen on the bed.

Jensen stares up at the man, lips tingling from the intense kissing and the taste of him still on his tongue. The man is looking down at him with hungry eyes and he attacks the tie around his neck as he says in a deep voice to Jensen. “Get undressed.”

Ok so Jensen has done some fucking around, hell once he had let Matt finger him while he blew him, but he hasn’t technically gone all the way. Maybe he was a gigantic girl but he really wanted to save that for when he finally fell in love. He used his fingers on himself once in a while and had toyed with the idea of getting a dildo at one point, but then immediately thought of Hunter finding it by accident and had nixed the idea.

But in this moment, with this man he can’t think of anything he wants more than this man to fuck him so he throws away his stupid romantic notions about love and tears at his own clothes until he is naked. The man crawls on top of him, kissing random parts of Jensen’s body, stopping to lick at Jensen’s shaft until he is squirming, the man chuckling softly again and saying “Even have a pretty cock, figures,” and really, Jensen would complain about being called pretty again, but the man is suddenly fully on top of him and grinding his cock into Jensen’s and all he can do is grab onto broad shoulders and thrust up into the man, because fuck that feels good.

He is so lost in the different sensations coursing through his body that he doesn’t hear the snick of the cap off the bottle of lube until he feels a thick finger enter him. He gasps and instinctively backs away and the man mutters something like “holy shit, you’re fucking tight” before pressing in deeper. His finger glides over something in Jensen that makes him shout and then the man is kissing him again, more fingers scissoring him open until Jensen is bucking back against them and begging the man to fuck him.

Shifting off Jensen for a moment, the man kneels and grabs a condom off the night table, ripping it open with his teeth while he stares at Jensen with dark, hungry eyes. He rolls it on himself, stroking a few times and moaning, before slicking up with a bit more lube. He grabs Jensen’s hips and pulls him over his thighs, lifting one leg over his massive shoulder and tucking the other around his waist. Jensen feels the tip of the man’s cock at his entrance and holds his breath. Because this is it.

The man slides in slowly and Jensen’s eyes fly open because the man is huge and it fucking hurts. He tries to move away but strong hands hold him in place. Tears leak out of the sides of Jensen’s eyes and he pants, trying to relax his body because he really, really wants this. The man slides in another inch and Jensen bites his lip hard so he won’t cry out and the man stops suddenly. Jensen’s eyes fly open again (and when had he closed them?) and he sees the man staring hard at him, a confused look marring the naked desire on his face.

The man says in a low voice. “Have you done this before?” Jensen wants to lie and say ‘all the time’ but he can’t and he knows the guy will know it’s a lie so he shakes his head. The look on the man’s face goes from confused to shock and he stutters, “How is that even possible?” He tries to pull out and Jensen grabs at him and says softly, “No, please, I want it, I really do.” The man stops moving and just looks down at Jensen for a moment, a myriad of emotions crossing his face. Jensen thinks he is about to pull out, to stop and so instinctively he tilts his hips, causing the man to go deeper and the man groans and thrusts forward unintentionally. Jensen arches his back and pants, his dick starting to fill again now that he has adjusted to the fullness.

The man has stopped again and Jensen mutters, “please” and tilts his hips again and the man growls and thrusts back in, now fully sheathed inside Jensen.

“Fuck, so tight, Jesus.” The man waits for Jensen to adjust again and when he is relaxed the man starts thrusting lightly, softly and Jensen whimpers. He thrusts back on the man’s cock, groaning and the man starts to fuck him harder like he can’t help himself. Jensen is thrashing around the bed, gripping the red comforter under his fingers and crying out with pleasure. He had no idea it was going to feel this fucking good and he is gonna come way too quick. He moves his hand to jerk his own cock, but the man bats it away, moving his huge hand over Jensen in time with his thrusts. Just a few strokes and Jensen is crying out and coming between them. His ass clenches around the man’s cock and the man thrusts wildly a few times and Jensen can feel him filling the condom.

The man pulls out carefully, but Jensen still winces a bit because, yeah, huge, and pulls off the condom, ties it and throws it towards the trash can at the side of the bed. They both lay there catching their breath for a moment, side by side with sweat slicked chests heaving a bit. The man’s big hand is on Jensen’s stomach, playing in the cooling come there, before reaching his fingers up and sucking them and Jensen’s dick starts to harden again because holy shit!

The man smirks over at Jensen and looks like he is about to say something when reality comes crashing in on him. Not only did he just have sex with a total stranger (and he will revisit that shit later) but he is also supposed to be home to relieve Mrs. Kane who is watching Hunter. He sits up quickly and grabs at his jeans.

The man beside him is staring at him dumbly like Jensen is juggling tea cups instead of dressing and finally says, “You got another appointment?” There is a slight disappointment in his tone and it causes Jensen to pause for a second. He looks over at the man and smiles a bit.

“This was great man, but seriously, I have to get home.” He gets his boxers and jeans on and is hunting for his socks when he hears the man mutter to himself, “Has it been an hour already?”

Jensen doesn’t have a fucking clue what that means so he shoves his feet into his shoes and stands up, buttoning his jeans.

Forcing his arms threw his shirt sleeves, he tugs down the too small shirt and tries unsuccessfully to fix his hair. He glances at the man again, still completely naked and spread out and wishes there could more than this, but it’s not possible. This is a stranger in a swanky hotel and Jensen is a single father and a pizza delivery boy. The man hasn’t stopped staring at him since he began dressing but when Jensen is fully dressed, he speaks, only his voice is cold and impersonal.

“Money’s on the counter.” Jensen flinches a bit at the tone and looks at the counter. There is a huge pile of money there, mostly hundreds but a few twenties and he grabs a twenty and holds it up. A small smile plays on his lips and he turns and says, “Did I earn this big of a tip?”

The man sits up and looks at Jensen like he has three heads and Jensen is startled, because really, $2.50 isn’t that great of a tip and they just had sex after all.

The man’s eyes narrow slightly and he says, “What?” and Jensen feels like a fucking idiot. Rolling his eyes he reaches into his own pocket and grabs out two crumpled ones and throws them on the counter. He doesn’t meet the man’s eyes again as he walks towards the hotel room door and says over his shoulder, “I’ll have to owe you the fifty cents. Thanks for the memories, asshole.” He wrenches the door open and walks out.

He hears the man calling after him, the door opening and the man’s voice echoing down the hall, but he doesn’t give a shit. He has a daughter to get home to.


	2. Chapter 2

JARED

Closing the door to the hotel room, Jared leans against it, confused and still fucking naked. He looks at the stack of money on the counter beside the pizza box and shakes his head. What the ever loving fuck had just happened?

On auto pilot, he walks to the pizza box and flips it open. Pepperoni and sausage and it looks good and smells amazing and his stomach rumbles, but he flips the lid closed again, walking over to the bed instead, pulling on his boxers, his mind a complete mess. He sits down unsteadily and tries to think.

He had been annoyed and hungry and horny all fricking day. Sandy had booked him the room at the hotel, telling him that he would be too zapped to drive back to his house after a full day of meetings and besides, there were more meetings starting early the next day. He hadn’t balked that much, he didn’t like driving when he was tired. And it had been a long fucking day. Meeting after meeting after meeting, with little sandwiches that weren’t at all filling, and Jared wanted to eat the whole platter to himself but figured that would look bad to his potential investors so he had only had a couple, his stomach protesting all day long. 

He had come up to his room thinking he would order the biggest steak on the menu and maybe a nice bottle of red to go with it. Flick on the TV and order some porn and take care of business. But the card in his wallet had mocked him from across the room and Jared had spent two hours arguing with himself before calling the number, cursing Mike all the way.

A few weeks ago he had met with Mike and his boyfriend Tom to talk about strategy for taking Padalecki, Inc. public at their favorite hangout. Since developing the application that had become a search engine that was quickly becoming the most sought after software around, it was time to take the plunge and they all knew it. 

Jared was something of a wunderkind, having graduated high school at 14 years old before heading to UT for two years and then MIT for 4. He had come back to Texas after graduation, hooked up with his two best friends from high school and had started Padalecki, Inc. which was now one of the most successful companies in Texas due to Tom’s business savvy, Jared’s program writing skills and Mike’s sales genius. Even though he came from a well off family, Jared was proud of his own success and knew his family was too. He had more money than sense of course, having made millions within a couple of years and now at 23 years old, he was richer than he had ever dreamed of, successful and alone. 

Sure, he had relationships here and there and hook ups, but he could never shake the feeling that the men he was with were after his money, or his success more than him. Justin had pretty much solidified his feelings, pretending to be in love with Jared and going behind his back in the meantime trying to steal Jared’s program designs. Jared had been disappointed and hurt and even though it was over a year ago, the betrayal still stung. Since then, no one shared Jared’s bed longer than one night, and he preferred it that way. 

When Mike had flicked the card for “Discreet Romance” at him across the table that night, Jared had laughed at him. Sure, he didn’t have a boyfriend or a relationship, but he hardly needed to pay for sex. He was a good looking guy, even without the successful company and could get pretty much anyone he wanted, even though he only wanted them for a short time. But Mike had made this big argument how Jared had been moping lately and how since he was going to be staying at the hotel it would be anonymous and Jared could get laid without the complications of someone wanting to start up a relationship with him. Tom had just shook his head fondly at Mike’s antics and Jared had flat out called Mike a “fucking psycho” and it was dropped. When Jared pulled out his wallet to pay for dinner, Mike had grabbed it and tucked the card in, laughing the whole time. Jared had called him an asshole and put his wallet back in his pocket. Never thinking of the card again. Until tonight.

After making the most awkward phone call of his life, because ordering a person felt like being on another planet, Jared had rolled up his shirt sleeves and loosened his tie, grabbing the room service menu on his way to sit on the sofa. He was about to call and order dinner when there was a soft knock at the door. Consulting his watch, he frowned. He had specifically said 11:00 pm on the phone so he could at least eat first. 

Slightly nervous he hurried to the door and flung it open and his jaw dropped. The guy standing on the other side was stunning. Soft brown spiky hair, big green eyes fringed with the longest eyelashes Jared had ever seen, and plump pink lips and Jared felt his throat go dry. The guy had low slung faded jeans hanging off slim hips and a tight blue tee shirt stretched across his chest. And because he was the most perfect guy Jared had ever seen, he also had a huge pizza box in one hand. $1500 had seemed like an awful lot for a fuck but for this guy? It was a bargain. Jared would have paid triple that just to kiss the beautiful creature in front of him.

He waved the guy in, and shuffled across the room, nervously pulling bills out of his wallet. He had never done this before and felt like an asshole for having such a reaction to a prostitute. Of course the guy was gorgeous, he had sex for a living. Taking a few deep, calming breaths to get himself under control he turned to look at the guy again. 

The guy was staring at him with a slightly confused expression, shifting the pizza box awkwardly from side to side. He licked his lips and his eyes latched onto Jared’s and Jared saw heat there, maybe even want. And the guy may be a pro but he looked just a hungry for it as Jared and suddenly, Jared’s confidence was back. He approached the other man with a smile. 

Things happened quickly after that and Jared let instinct and desire take over for him. When his fingers had first breached that tight heat he had stopped because this guy was tight, like, virgin tight and he wondered how that was even possible. But the guy had pressed his lips to Jared’s again and bucked his hips up and Jared fell back into heat and want and desire. 

He had never wanted anyone more, the guy’s reactions were fucking perfect, beautiful, more than Jared could have imagined. He was flushed and squirming and biting his own lips at the different sensations and Jared wondered how they managed to get what he wanted perfectly in such a short time. He hadn’t been overly specific on the phone since he didn’t know what the hell he was doing, just that he wanted someone not too short or too “twink” and he didn’t want someone obvious. 

“Innocent?” The woman had said and Jared and gulped and said, “Yeah, pretty much. Or as close to it.” The woman had assured him that could be arranged and hung up. 

When he lined up at the guys entrance he stared down at the beautiful face, watching his reactions as he slowly filled him. It was so tight, too tight and he could see pain in the man’s expression and he had stopped. When the man admitted he hadn’t had sex before, part of Jared wanted to call him on it, cause really? Prostitute. But the guy was so fucking tight and looked kind of scared and turned on at the same time. Then he was tilting his hips up and Jared couldn’t find it in himself to hold off anymore. He had groaned and fucked the guy as carefully as he could and when the man came, he looked almost shocked at the pleasure, causing Jared to thrust a few more times like a teenager before following him over the edge. 

When the guy had immediately started dressing, Jared had been kind of pissed off. He figured for $1500 bucks the guy could let him enjoy the afterglow and maybe he would go again. Instead, the guy is dressing like he can’t get out of there fast enough. 

Jared steels himself and forces himself to remember that he just paid this guy for sex, it wasn’t a date and he tells the guy where the money is. 

The guy walks over to the counter and when he holds up the $20 and asks if he earned the tip, Jared is completely thrown. Because, what the fuck? The guy seemed to get angry at that, had taken some money from his own pocket and thrown it down before telling Jared he would owe him $.50 and stalking out the door. 

Reeling, Jared gets up and stumbles to the counter, looking at the pile of money still there, along with what looks like $2 and gets a terrible feeling clenching in his stomach. He races to the door and calls “Hey” but the guy is already gone. 

Shit.

So, Jared sits in his boxers on the side of the bed and has no fucking clue what just happened. His phone buzzes across the room and by habit alone Jared goes to pick it up. Three missed calls and one voicemail. The number isn’t familiar to him and he frowns. He hadn’t heard his phone at all, but then again, he was otherwise occupied. 

He presses the buttons for voicemail and when he hears the message he almost collapses. 

“Hello, this is Discreet Romance trying to reach Mr. Padalecki. Our employee has attempted to reach you several times and knocked at the door of the specified address before having to leave for another appointment. Your credit card has been charged the before mentioned $250 cancellation fee, but in the future, please contact us as soon as possible to cancel appointments.”

So, the escort had shown up, hell even knocked, but Jared had been too busy fucking the guy through the mattress to notice. So, the guy wasn’t the escort. Who the hell was he? Jared’s brain is swimming and his eyes are darting around the hotel room and come to rest on the pizza box. Oh FUCK.

He walks over and looks at the box accusingly. The pizza still smells good and on the top of the box is a colorful Italian flag and the words “The Best Pizza in the World is Fratelli’s Pizza” in bold, red, print.

Jared had fucked the pizza guy. And had mistaken him for a whore. Of fucking course. He was going to KILL Mike.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Five weeks and two days later.  
JENSEN

Yawning loudly, he fumbles his way into the nursery just as Hunter begins to stir. He picks her up, cooing at her softly. Her eyes light up, the same blue as Chris’s and she smiles and Jensen’s heart clenches. Every day she looks more and more like the perfect combination of Chris and Dannii and his love for her is only marred by the intense pain of her parent’s passing. 

He gathers her close to him and takes her over to the change table, quickly changing her diaper and sleeper, talking softly to her the whole time. She giggles her baby giggle and when he is done he pulls her close and covers her face with kisses. She gurgles and says, “Da” and chubby arms encircle his neck and he can’t help the sheen of tears he feels in his eyes. 

He walks her into the small kitchen and puts her in her high chair with her favorite teddy bear and a plastic set of brightly covered keys and moves around quickly, starting coffee, getting her cereal made. He sips his coffee while he feeds her and laughs when she grabs the spoon and feeds her face more than her mouth. She looks so proud and says “Da” again. 

He hears the door of his apartment open and his mom walks into the kitchen, grocery bags in one hand and a plastic dinosaur in the other. He smiles warmly at her and she kisses the top of his head in greeting. When the groceries are put away (and he is insanely thankful her and Mrs. Kane both do that since he NEVER has time) she sits beside him, smiling at her granddaughter, who is now chewing on the plastic keys, cereal forgotten. 

“She gets bigger every day, I swear,” she says and Jensen nods because it’s true. Hunter is almost a year old now, just starting to toddle around on unsteady legs and he thinks about Dannii and Chris again and how they are never going to see all the milestones of their daughter. 

His mom runs her hands through his hair and turns his head to face her. “You OK honey? You look a little tired?”

He is tired, Hunter sleeps mostly through the night now, but she is still up early and he has school and work on top of it all. He smiles at her and says, “I’m OK Mama, don’t fuss.”

Donna laughs and says, “That is my god given right, honey.” She lets her hand drop from his hair and moves to pick Hunter up from the high chair. “Now you go shower and get ready for class and leave me to take care of my gorgeous girl.” 

Jensen hugs her gratefully when he gets up and kisses Hunter’s sticky cheek and heads to his bedroom. He jumps into the shower, moaning at the pressure of the hot water on his muscles and knows he is lucky. With the support of his parents and Mrs. Kane (no matter what she says he will never be able to call her Elizabeth) he is managing to make a good life for Hunter and stay in school. He has a 4.0 and his daughter is healthy. It’s all he can ask for. Well, he would enjoy having a social life, but other than Chad, his closest friend at university he doesn’t really have the time, nor the desire for much more.

He soaps his hands and rubs at his chest before reaching for his cock which is half hard. He jacks himself slowly and his eyes fall shut. He thinks back weeks ago, the tall gorgeous stranger thrusting into him, his big hand on Jensen’s cock and his breath speeds up. He hates himself for thinking of that arrogant jackass but it was his only real sexual experience and since it happened, his mind always goes there. Miles of tanned skin, desperate kisses and that huge cock on his tongue, inside him, and Jensen comes with a groan. 

He really needs to get past this shit. The guy was an asshole and Jensen is never going to see him again anyhow. Maybe he just needs to get laid again.

He shaves and brushes his teeth, spikes his hair a bit and dresses. He grabs his business book and shoves it into his messenger bag. There is a guest lecture today so he doubts he will need it, but it would be just like him to not bring it and have to have it. 

Entering the living room, he watches for a moment as his Mom holds one of Hunter’s hands and walks her around a little. She looks up at him smiling and says, “She is really getting the hang of it. Thank god I baby proofed this week. Don’t forget your Dad and I are taking her for the weekend.” 

He wants to protest because they do too much, but he can’t bring himself to. He hasn’t had a weekend off in months. Either work or school or Hunter and he was constantly on the go. But Mr. Fratelli had insisted Jensen take a few weekends off from delivering pies and when his Mom found out she insisted that she take Hunter and he “go be a real college student. Play beer pong or do a keg stand or something” He doubted he would be doing those things, but he was going to be free for two whole nights and days and he was sure Chad would find a way to get them in some sort of trouble.

Chad had wormed his way into Jensen’s life the last year of high school. With Dannii and Chris basically together constantly with a baby on the way, Jensen had been set adrift, zombie walking his way through the halls. At lunch one day, Chad had sat across from him and smirked saying, “Fuck Jenny, you either need some company or a straight jacket. I’m gonna go with my gut on this one” and proceeded to steal half of Jensen’s sandwich. 

Jensen has responded the only way he knew how. “Don’t call me Jenny, fucker.” And that was that.

Jensen had protested at first, but Chad was relentless and before he knew it, they were friends. Not close like him and Chris and Dannii, but good friends. Chad had even driven him to the hospital when Dannii gave birth because Jensen was so nervous and he had stood silently by Jensen as he buried his best friends. 

When Jensen decided to keep Hunter, Chad had his back the whole way. Jensen didn’t actually let Chad babysit his daughter (god for fucking BID) but he did let him watch her when Jensen was home so he could study or take a shower, or even nap. Chad obviously loved the little girl, bringing her presents that were way too old for her insisting she was the “smartest baby on the planet so of course she can use an etch a sketch”. 

Jensen parked his truck in the student parking area and trudged towards the building. He was running a few minutes late but he knew Chad would save him a seat. Sure enough, Chad was near the front of the room, backpack slung up on the chair beside him. Jensen sat down beside him gratefully and when Chad handed over a cup of still steaming coffee Jensen muttered, “You are officially my best friend.”

“Yeah, like it was ever in question, Bitch.” Chad laughs and Jensen snorts with derision as he looks at the paper sitting on the desk, describing the guest lecturers. 

Padalecki, Inc. and its three owners, all young and successful were going to talk to the class today about business strategies and how to get ahead. 

Jared Padalecki, computer programmer and company namesake wouldn’t be talking but would be there to answer questions. 

Thomas Welling would give a short talk on how to start a business and keep it flourishing in an uncertain market and unstable economy.

Michael Rosenbaum would finish off with a talk about how to sell your idea to investors and market your product to maximum success.

All three were UT alumni.

Riveting, Jensen thought to himself. He didn’t care much about business, he was going to school to become a teacher, but he needed this class for his general credits. He found it kind of boring, truth be told and had no intention of starting, or owning a business, much less selling anything to anyone. 

Professor Singer enters the room and says, “Good Morning,” as he places his briefcase beside the lecture stern. He started talking about Padalecki Inc. and how successful it is in such a short time, and despite himself, Jensen is impressed. He talks about how all three guest lecturers had been in his classes at different times and he is insanely grateful they have agreed to come and talk to all of them today.

The door opens and three men enter but Jensen is sipping his coffee and doesn’t look up right away. In his peripheral vision he sees the men shake Professor Singer’s hand and there are a few back slaps. Professor Singer says something like “Sure got tall, Jared,” and Jensen hears a warm chuckle in response. Something in his stomach clenches and Jensen looks up. 

Oh holy fucking shit.

He stiffens in shock as his eyes take in the sight of one of the men in front of him. Tall, messy long brown hair, faded jeans, scuffed up boots and a blue and white plaid shirt untucked. But it’s him. The guy from the hotel. Just as gorgeous as he remembers and Jensen forgets to breathe. 

Chad notices his distress and says, “Jen what the hell?” and Jensen doesn’t answer him. Because tall dark and asshole has turned his head and his eyes catch on Jensen.

He looks almost as shocked as Jensen feels. 

Almost.

JARED

He had protested and bitched and threatened to run away to Tahiti, but in the end Mike and Tom had convinced him to attend the guest lecture at UT as a favor to their favorite professor. Jared had insisted he wouldn’t talk, but after Mike sat in his lap and begged, Jared agreed to go along and answer questions if Mike would get his fat ass off him. He loves his best friends, but Mike is nuts and Tom is in love with him, which makes Tom sort of nuts too.

Jared had balked at wearing a fucking suit, because, just no. He hadn’t worn one since all those weeks ago when he had 10 meetings in two days to take the company public and he wasn’t planning on it anytime soon. He wore his usual clothes and told Mike to shut the fuck up and be grateful he was even going. He couldn’t even look at a suit without remembering the gorgeous guy that he had made such a huge mistake with. That he couldn’t stop thinking about no matter WHAT he told himself.

Walking into the UT business building had seemed like déjà vu for him, and he remembered being 15 years old and terrified. Sure he was a genius but he was also still a kid and everyone was staring at him. He had been shaky by the time he had gotten to the right room and when he entered Professor Singer spotted him right away and beckoned him over.

“Jared, right?” Jared nodded and swallowed nervously, fingers crumpling the schedule in his hand. Professor Singer had smiled kindly at him and said in a low voice, “Don’t be scared, kid. You’re smarter than all these idjits put together, so you sit up close to me here and don’t worry about nothing.” 

After that, Jared had been OK. It helped his best friends were on campus too and even when he wasn’t taking business classes, Professor Singer was always there for him. So, yeah, he owed the guy.

Doesn’t mean he is wearing a suit. 

Shuffling into the room, he smiles widely when he sees his old friend and they all approach the Professor, exchanging handshakes and smiles. Jared forgot how much he adored the old coot. 

He hears someone say “Jen, what the hell,” and his head turns instinctively.

Green eyes. Locked onto his. 

All the air is sucked out of the room and Jared couldn’t look away if he tried, because right there is the guy that has haunted his thoughts for the past too many weeks to mention. Real and there and more beautiful than Jared’s memory had recorded. 

He tries to smile, but he knows its hanging there uncertain and half assed and suddenly the guy’s eyes harden into ice chips and he looks away, muttering, “Shut the fuck up, Chad,” to his friend, who is staring at Jared with narrowed eyes and a perplexed expression. 

Jared is officially fucked. And he never got around to killing Mike for starting this whole stupid thing. 

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Jared can’t concentrate at all as he listens to his friends lecture the class about starting and owning a business and marketing. He is seated to the side of them, facing the students, but his eyes haven’t left the green eyed man once. He knows he is creepy staring, but he can’t help it. The other man has steadfastly refused to look his way again since that first time and Jared feels like he is going insane. 

“Jared” Tom calls loudly and Jared jumps, his eyes flicking up guilty at his friends, who along with everyone else but Green Eyes, are focused on him. Tom stares at him pointedly, a look of concern marring his features.

“Uhh, sorry, what was the question?” He sounds like a fucking idiot.

Tom gestures to the students and Jared manages to focus on the girl about three rows up who says in a slightly bitchy ‘I just did this’ tone. “What advice would you give up and coming programmers looking for a groundbreaking idea?”

Jared has no fucking clue, he can’t even remember why he’s there and his gaze once again goes to the man seated up front. Only now his eyes are narrowed on Jared too, and Jared gulps in a breath, almost choking himself. What a spaz. Jesus, get a grip, he tells himself. 

He tears his eyes from the other man and manages to smile a little at the girl as he explains that programming is an art form and the best advice he can give is to work at until you come up with something that either no one else has thought of, or that is better than anything else out there. Yeah, it’s fucking obvious and stupid advice, but Jared can’t really care right now. He is too busy freaking the fuck out. Excuse the hell out of him.

More time passes and Jared concentrates a bit more because Tom looks worried and Mike looks like he might slap the shit out of him. He answers a few more questions lobbed at him and must do OK because the students seem impressed. 

Professor Singer thanks them for being there and assigns the class a three page essay on Padalecki Inc. and why it is a success. Jared stands numbly, side eyeing Green Eyes who is shoving stuff into a messenger bag and standing up. He shakes the Professor’s hand quickly and tells Tom and Mike he’ll be back in a second and follows the other guy and his blonde friend out of the lecture hall. Panicking that the guy may not stop, Jared grabs his elbow and says, “Hey.”

The guy stops dead and turns, facing Jared with that icy glare and Jared pulls his hand away before he gets punched. He stuffs his hands in his pockets and tries to smile, feeling awkward and terrified and guilty all at once. He bites his lip and tries the puppy dog eyes he hasn’t used since trying to get extra cookies from his Mom.

“Could I-uh-speak to you for a second?” He stares at the other man hopefully and his friend pops in with a “Who is this guy, Jenny?” 

Green eyes turns his glare from Jared to his friend and says, “Don’t call me Jenny, fucker, and gimme a minute,” before he grabs Jared by the front of the shirt and forces him into a corner of the hallway. Jared stumbles slightly but follows along.

The guy leans against the wall, stares hard at Jared and says, “What do you want?” And Jared, despite being scared and guilty can think of a lot of ways to answer that question. He is close enough to the other man to feel his body heat and he smells as good as he had the night they had shared together. 

He sort of just wants to stand there in the guy’s presence but the man is waiting for an answer, and doesn’t look all that patient.

Jared stammers, “I just wanted to –uh- apologize for uh-,” and how does he finish that sentence? Fucking you and thinking you’re a hooker? Possibly taking your virginity unknowingly because I thought you were a hooker? Not tipping you for the pizza I didn’t even order? 

The guy is now looking at Jared like he is nuts and Jared could very well be, because in that moment he kind of wants to fall to his knees and beg this guy for forgiveness.

“For?” The guy waits.

Jared feels his face heat up and he looks down as he says softly, “I uh, thought you were someone else that night. I had uhm-called this place and so,” and he doesn’t know how to finish that sentence either. This is fucking horrible.

The guy looks confused and says, “What, the pizza place?”

Jared shakes his head and softly says, “Uhm no. It was a place that sends, -uh- people to you. For, money.” He breathes deep and looks up, shame coloring his face. “For uh-sex.”

The guy looks monumentally confused for about five seconds and then Jared can see it dawn on him. The guy’s face goes red and he hisses at Jared, “You ordered a hooker and you thought it was me?” 

Yeah, Jared is gonna get punched. He nods jerkily though, holding the man’s gaze though he wants to melt into the floor, because, yeah, it sounds just as fucking losery coming out of this guy’s mouth as it does in Jared’s own head.

Then the other guy shocks him. He starts to laugh, first a low chuckle and then he outright starts laughing, bending over at the waist and resting his hands on his knees, laughing full and loud. Jared can’t help it, the guy has a great laugh and he finds himself nervously chuckling along. 

The guy laughs some more and finally straightens up, wiping tears of laughter off his cheeks, looking at Jared again.

“The pizza didn’t tip you off?” And then he is laughing again and Jared is laughing with him, because yeah, that should have been a red flag at the time.

Jared says in between gasps of laughter, “I hadn’t done it before, I thought maybe it was just a bonus, and I was really hungry so-“ and the guy is laughing again and Jared collapses in another fit of giggles because it’s fucking ridiculous is what it is. 

A few minutes later the laughter dies down and the guy looks at Jared with almost a fond look and says, “That could only happen to me. Mistaken for a hooker with a pizza.”

Jared laughs and shakes his head, “No, only I’m stupid enough to mistake a pizza delivery guy for a hooker because he’s hot and my stomach is empty.”

They both laugh a little again and the guy hooks his bag over his shoulder and shrugs, but he’s smiling now and Jared sort of wants to touch him. 

“Well, it’s good to know you weren’t just a cheapskate tipper that used my ass.”

Jared isn’t smiling anymore when he hears that, because it sounds cheap and this guy isn’t cheap. At all. He’s kind of amazing. 

Jared says softly, “No, I’m just a moron. I hope you can forgive me.” He holds out his hand and says, “I’m Jared Padalecki and I’m so sorry that I am such a fucking idiot.”

The guy looks at Jared’s hand for a moment and then clasps it his own firmly. “Jensen Ackles, hooker pizza guy.” And he smirks at Jared, showing he’s joking.

Jensen. God that’s a beautiful name. Just like the owner of it.

“Jensen,” Jared says, rolling it on his tongue. “Could I make it up to you? Maybe take you out to dinner this weekend? Uh-you could make fun of me the whole time?” He gives Jensen his best cocky, dimpled smile, but his heart is in his throat as he waits for Jensen to shoot him down.

Jensen tilts his head, considering before saying, “What the hell? Sure.”

Jared feels like his face is gonna explode he is smiling so widely.

 

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who has stopped by to read this and especially to those that left comments or kudos. You are all awesome and what a great welcome to the community. Here is the next chapter! Hope you like how the story is going!

Chapter Three

JENSEN

He is standing half way in his closet with a green button down in one hand and a blue one in the other, trying to decide what to wear when Chad yells at him from the living room. He groans inwardly.

“Let me get this straight,” Chad says, and Jensen can hear him pause as he takes a swig of beer. “You delivered a pizza to the wrong room, end up having sex with a total stranger, who mistakes you for a hooker?”

Jensen groans again. Because, yeah, that pretty much sums it up. But Chad isn’t done.

“Then it turns out, the guy is THE Jared fucking Padalecki?”

And yeah, now Jensen is even MORE nervous than he was.

“Shut up, Chad,” he yells and sits down on his bed to have a private little freak out.

Because since Wednesday Jared had texted Jensen every day and called him last night to shore up plans for dinner tonight. A dinner Jensen has NO idea why he said yes to, except that he was still reeling from Jared’s confession.

And that Jared had turned out to not just be the hottest guy he ever met but one of the smartest if the lecture had been anything to go by. He had googled Jared when he got home that day, finding out that Jared was some sort of genius and had like 50 degrees by the time he was twenty years old, along with the most successful company in the state. 

Cause that shit isn’t intimidating.

Jensen has almost canceled a dozen times, but he can’t quite find it in himself to do so. Sure, it couldn’t go anywhere, but he still wanted to see the man again. Maybe even get kissed once or twice before reality came back and he turns back into Jensen with the huge amount of baggage again.

Determinedly he stands and pulls on the green shirt, tucking it in carefully before going to the bathroom. He brushes his teeth and sprays some cologne on and checks himself in the mirror. Not bad, he thinks. Not Jared good, but decent.

He walks into the living room and Chad whistles and says, “Not bad Jenny, you workin’ the streets tonight?” He waggles his eyebrows and leers a bit and Jensen laughs.

“Stop calling me Jenny, fucker.”

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Jared had offered to pick him up but Jensen had declined, so he pulls up to the restaurant valet in his ten year old truck and feels all sorts of out of place. The valet hands him a ticket and Jensen watches the guy drive off in his truck before taking a deep breath and looking at the entrance of the restaurant.

It’s the highest priced steakhouse in the state, and he has never been there, although he had promised himself that once he graduated college he would eat there at least once. And here he is. Three years ahead of schedule.

He enters the tastefully decorated and dimly lit foyer where a tall thin man dressed all in black meets him immediately and asks for his name. When he gives it to him, the man says, “Of course Sir, Mr. Padalecki is waiting for you in the private dining room” and walks down a short hallway, Jensen following behind. Private dining room?

The man stops at the entrance of a room and gestures for Jensen to go in, smiling lightly. Jensen sees Jared standing up at the table, dimples out in full force and beckoning Jensen into the room. Jensen walks in, eyes on Jared and feels himself smile brightly at the other man. Jared looks gorgeous, tight black jeans and dark red dress shirt open at the throat, silver belt buckle and all long limbs and grace. His hair is tamer than he has ever seen it and Jensen kind of wants to twist it up in his fingers and mess it up.

Jensen sits down and so does Jared and Jared breathes, “It’s really good to see you again, Jensen,” and he sounds so sincere that Jensen’s heart skips a beat. Just dinner, he reminds himself. But he finds himself smiling back at Jared and saying softly, “You too, Jared.”

They sit in silence for a few moments and Jensen finally says, “Private dining room?” and wrinkles his nose at Jared who laughs softly and shrugs, his cheeks going slightly pink.

“I may have been, you know, trying to impress you.” 

Jensen smiles and looks down biting his lip because, he would be impressed with Jared at a picnic.

It’s awkward for about ten more seconds and then Jared says, “Take a look at this menu, you won’t believe some of the dishes they serve, this place is amazing,” and Jensen laughs a little and says,

“You really like food, don’t you?” Jared stares at him for a second and then blushes again and says,

“Yeah, obviously.” And Jensen knows they are both thinking of that pizza.

One more moment of awkward silence and then Jared starts rattling off different specialties and oohing and ahhing over the menu and Jensen is smiling and nodding at the man’s exuberance. He tells Jared to order for him and Jared beams excitedly, turning the menu pages and noting different things, while Jensen just watches him. He is beautiful and full of life and frankly, way too excited about food, but Jensen likes him. And that is just fucking terrifying.

The waiter comes and Jared rattles off an order that seems like far too much food for two of them and some wine for them and Jensen is surprised the waiter doesn’t bat an eye and his obvious underageness. He guesses that private dining rooms didn’t count in the “show me your ID” spectrum. Or maybe Jared was just that good of a customer.

The wine arrives and Jared nods at the bottle and glasses are poured for both of them. Jared lifts his glass and says to Jensen, “To new beginnings” and clinks their glasses lightly together. Jensen nods and smiles, and takes a sip of the wine. It’s really good, spicy and smooth and he puckers his lips in appreciation. His parents drink a lot of wine and he had grown up learning about different wines and sampling them.

He sees Jared staring at him and gives him a “What?” look and Jared shakes his head slightly and smiles saying, 

“Nothing, you’re just, kind of beautiful and I’m still adjusting.”

Jensen snorts a laugh and puts down his wine glass. He looks towards the closed door to make sure they are alone and leans forward. 

Unconsciously Jared leans forward too and Jensen asks the question that has been driving him crazy since he ran into Jared.

“Why in the hell were you hiring a hooker?”

Jared looks shocked for half a second and then barks out a short laugh, scrapes his hand through his hair and looks up at the ceiling.

“Fucking Mike,” he says and begins to tell Jensen the story of the business card and why at some point he had been crazy enough with hunger that it had seemed like a good idea. They are both laughing by the time he finishes and Jensen can appreciate the irony of the situation. 

He takes another sip of wine and says quietly, “That happen to you a lot, people hooking up with you because you’re, you know, you?” He watches as Jared’s face sobers and he nods slightly and says in a subdued tone,

“yeah, it happens.”

They are both quiet and the food arrives and Jensen was right, it is more than he could possibly imagine. Stuffed porcini mushroom caps, crab legs, lobster tails, a bowl of creamed spinach and two thick juicy steaks with baked potatoes piled high with fixings. 

They both dig in and he watches Jared munching happily on a little bit of everything. The guy really does love food, he thinks fondly as Jared shoves an entire mushroom cap in his mouth.

Eventually, they slow down, Jensen is picking at what is left on his plate and Jared is chewing his last bit of steak. Jared swallows and takes a drink of wine before saying, “Can I ask you something?”

Jensen looks up and nods, but doesn’t smile. He is pretty sure what Jared is going to ask him.

“Why did you do it? That night?”

Yep, that’s what he was waiting for.

He stutters a bit as he explains that he hadn’t even dated in almost a year and how Jared was hot and Jensen was a sucker for dimples and chiseled abs and Jared smiles at him from across the table.  
Jensen looks down, cheeks flushed from the wine and his memories of him and Jared together and he barely hears Jared’s next sentence.

“Jen, were you a virgin?”

Oh god.

His cheeks go from pink to fire engine red in an instant and he nods but doesn’t look up at Jared. He hears the sharp intake of breath and waits for Jared to call him a huge loser for giving his virginity away to a stranger who mistook him for a hooker.

“Wow.” Is all Jared says and Jensen looks up in surprise to find Jared’s gaze on him, a small smile on his lips and desire in his eyes. 

“That is about the hottest fucking thing I have ever heard.”

Jensen lets out a breath of relief and smiles at Jared. 

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

JARED

The dinner was going perfectly and Jared couldn’t remember being so excited about anything for a long time. Jensen was beautiful and great company with a quick wit that came with a huge dollop of sarcasm. 

They had muddled through the awkward portion of the conversation and the disclosure of why both of them had done what they did and Jared was relieved that Jensen’s only reaction to his ordering a hooker was disbelief cause Jared would never have to pay for it. 

Jensen had also laughed when Jared admitted that he had not only eaten the pizza that night because he was starving and didn’t want to face anyone else, but that he had called the pizzeria trying to find out who Jensen was. Only Mr. Fratelli had yelled that they didn’t give out employee information and hung up on him. 

When Jensen had confirmed he had been a virgin that night, the guilt that had nagged him from that first contact reared up, but it was eclipsed by the possessive pride he felt at being Jensen’s first. And only. Ok, so he was getting ahead of himself but holy fuck, Jensen had never had sex before that night and all Jared can concentrate on is how much he wants the man across from him. In his bed. In his life. 

They are sipping wine again with the food plates cleared and Jared is peppering Jensen with questions because he wants to know EVERYTHING about him. 

Jensen is in his first year at UT and studying to be a teacher. He has an apartment near campus. And a Mama and Daddy he seems real close to. The blonde guy in class with him was his best friend Chad. And that’s it. Jensen won’t reveal anything else about himself. The more Jared probes, the more closed off Jensen is and it confuses Jared a bit. He is kind of an open book himself and he can’t imagine why someone as great as Jensen would hate talking about themselves but after Jensen didn’t answer his question about why he hadn’t dated in a year, Jared just quit asking.

They were silent for a bit and then Jared starts talking again, this time about his family, his mom and dad and siblings. He tells a story about his nephew Gregory peeing on him during a family photo and Jensen’s eyes jerk up to his and his mouth opens in surprise.

“Nephew huh?” And Jensen seems genuinely interested and so Jared talks about Jeff’s two kids. Milly, the three year old and Greg the 1 ½ year old. Jensen listens intently, a little smile playing on his face.

Jared finishes up with, “I love them and all, but they wear me out. Thank god I am just the Uncle and don’t have to take ‘em home with me.”

He smiles at Jensen and watches as Jensen’s face shuts down a little. What had he said?

Jensen shuffles a bit in his seat and says softly, “What, you don’t want kids?” 

Jared talks without thinking a lot so he just pops off with “I dunno, never really thought about it. Maybe someday. Not today. Love the rugrats but they take time, man. Time I wanna spend programming, or playing basketball. Or in bed.” 

Jensen’s eyes narrow a bit and his jaw looks almost clenched as he ask, “Have you ever dated anyone with a kid?”

Jared chuckles and says, “No, being gay not too much chance of that, right? I guess it’s one of the perks we get.”

And suddenly Jensen is standing and Jared is confused as hell and stands up too.

Jensen isn’t meeting his eyes at all just stuttering out that he has to leave and thanking Jared for the meal.

Jared says, “Jensen wait, I thought-“ but Jensen looks up at him with cold eyes and cuts him off. When he speaks, his voice is low and eerily calm.

“Jared, you seem like a good guy, and I appreciate the dinner and conversation. But you and I aren’t a good fit. I’m-“ and he bites his lip and looks down at the table before continuing, “I’m not what you’re looking for. Trust me.” 

Jared tries to protest and Jensen just listens to him with that same level unwavering gaze trained on him.

Then he thanks him again and walks out.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Two days later, Jensen hasn’t answered any of his texts or taken his calls and Jared is kinda fucking mad and upset and yeah he can admit it. Hurt. Because Jensen was perfect and he liked him and wanted to know more about him, wanted to maybe even date him and Jensen wouldn’t give him the time of day.

Jared had NO idea how he had fucked his up. But somehow, he had.

So he is sitting with Mike and Tom at their usual table at Sahara’s and not paying attention until Tom raps him on the side of his head with his knuckles lightly and says, “What the hell, Jared? What’s wrong with you, man?”

And Jared has had three beers and his tongue is looser than usual and he tells them everything, from start to finish about Jensen. Mike laughs so hard he chokes and Tom has to thump him on the back and Tom asks him a dozen times, “What the fuck were you thinking?” and none of this is helping. 

Jared pulls his own hair and mutters, “I don’t fucking know, I don’t even know what I did wrong, but now he won’t talk to me, or even text me back and I feel like I’m back in university again, 16, with only you two assholes for friends and no guy will look twice at me ‘cause I’m too young and got pimples and too skinny.”

OK so he might be feeling a tad sorry for himself. Whatever.

Mike erupts in another fit of laughter and Tom joins him and Jared knows he sounds like a dick, but it’s his party and he can be a dramatic douchebag if he wants to be. He just got dumped. Sort of.

Tom sobers up and says, “Did you try to go and see him?” and Jared’s head perks up, because no, he hadn’t thought of that, although he knows his address. 

He stands quickly and says, “Imma gonna go right now, make him talk to me, make him like me again, force him to date me,” and he is rambling like a fucking moron and thankfully Tom stops him and says,

“Not tonight Jay, you’re drunk and kind of obnoxious,” and Jared doesn’t think he’s obnoxious but he sits back down because he is actually drunk.

They do shots that night, never a good idea and when he wakes up in the morning with a dead animal for a tongue and a marching band thumping through his brain, he hates his friends and thinks about going to see Jensen.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Two days later he has mustered enough balls to walk up to Jensen’s apartment door, although his hands are sweating and he has a fluttering in his chest that he hopes is just nerves and not an actual heart attack about to happen. He rings the bell and waits, nervously chewing his lip. 

He hears a yelled ‘hold on’ through the door and manages a weak grin, because even hearing Jensen’s slightly harried voice through the door makes him happy. Yeah, he might be a tad gone over the guy.

The door opens quickly and Jensen stares up at him dumbly and Jared goes into shock.

In one arm, Jensen holds a little baby to him and there is a towel over his opposite shoulder. He looks a little tired and when he sees its Jared standing there, he looks a lot angry. 

Jared is still sort of spaced out on the whole ‘Jensen holding a kid’ thing but he notes the anger anyhow.

He goes to speak. “Uhmmm”. Brilliant Padalecki, that’ll win him over.

Just then the baby starts to cry and Jensen pretty much forgets Jared, or so it seems, as he shifts her into a hug and coos at her softly, “Your OK baby girl, it’s just a cold, you’re gonna be just fine, Daddy’ll get you some medicine.” He turns away from the door and walks the girl into another room and Jared just stands there. 

Jensen has a child. 

Jensen is a father.

How in the hell is Jensen a father when he hadn’t even had sex before? 

None of this makes any sense and Jared walks forward unknowingly, swinging the door closed behind him. 

In the small kitchen off to the side he sees Jensen glance in his direction, as if he is just remembering Jared is there before turning his attention to the little girl, trying to get her take the medicine from a large looking eye dropper. He finally manages to get her to take it and the girl isn’t crying much anymore, but she hiccups and Jensen touches her face tenderly, wiping away tears and telling her in a soft voice what a good girl she is. 

Jared just stands there.

Jensen comes into the tiny living room still holding the baby protectively against his chest and says, “sit” to Jared. 

Jared sits. His mind is going a million miles a minute and he barely notices that Jensen has left the room again. 

Jensen is a father, he thinks to himself once again. 

The conversation at dinner comes back to him and he groans softly and puts his head in his hands. Of course. Jared’s offhand comments about kids and not knowing if he wanted them and BAM! Jensen had ditched him faster than a prom date ditches her panties. 

Jesus fucking Christ. If he could, Jared would kick his own ass.

Not to worry though, Jensen is back in the room, little girl not with him and he looks pretty ready to do it FOR Jared anyhow. 

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

JENSEN

When he had opened the door, the last thing in the world he was expecting was Jared to be standing there. Hunter was fighting her first real sickness, throwing up and running a fever and Jensen had been sick with worry for two days. She was congested and fussy, and neither of them was sleeping very much.

The shock of seeing Jared wore off pretty fast in Hunter’s eruption of cries and Jensen refocused himself on getting her to take the purple medicine the doctor had assured him worked wonders. He heard the door close and jerked his eyes in that direction, honestly surprised to see Jared standing there.

And he didn’t look ready to leave yet, either. Awesome. 

Jensen told him to sit, because the guy is huge and his apartment is small and then he takes Hunter and lays her down. Her eyes close instantly, the infection has her tuckered out and he watches her until her breathing evens out. 

He steels himself mentally for confronting Jared and walks back into the living room. He sits across from Jared and checks the baby monitor to make sure it’s on and waits to hear Hunter’s slightly rattling but steady breathing before he speaks.

“What do you want, Jared?” His own voice sounds foreign to him, cold and slightly hoarse, and he doesn’t miss the slight flinch in Jared’s expression as he swings his head up to look at Jensen. 

Jared stares at him for a moment, his own hands releasing his mess of hair and sighs softly. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Jensen barks out a laugh and stands up, heading to the kitchen for a beer. Swinging open the fridge door he thinks for a second and then says, “fuck it” and grabs two. This isn’t going to be a great conversation.

He feels Jared’s eyes on him as he walks back in but doesn’t meet his gaze, just silently hands him a beer and sits back down, twisting off the cap and taking a long pull. 

Jared speaks again, softly. “Jen?” And it’s a question, not just a name.

Jensen takes another swig and sets the bottle down by the monitor and leans forward, putting his forearms on his knees and looking Jared straight in the face. 

“When would I have told you? During our non-conversation fuck fest at the hotel, or the date where you said you were glad you didn’t have kids and didn’t really date anyone who did?” He knows his words are harsh and slightly unfair, but he doesn’t give a shit. He had liked Jared, really liked him and felt raw and open when Jared had almost shuddered at the idea of being saddled with a child.

Jared’s expression looks pained but he nods slightly, showing he understands. He takes a drink of beer and looks around the little apartment, not meeting Jensen’s eyes. Jensen follows his gaze and knows it’s not much, it’s small and cramped and filled to bursting with his books and baby paraphernalia. Jared’s eyes go to the wall over the chair where Jensen is seated and without looking, Jensen knows he is looking at the different photos hanging over it. Different photos of his parents, him, him and Chad and several of him and Dannii and Chris, Dannii and Chris alone, and then one of the three of them with Hunter when she was first born. Chad had taken it at the hospital. Jensen knows they all look so proud and so young in it. 

Jared looks at the pictures for a long time and then his gaze goes to Jensen. His voice is soft and sort of sad. “I’m sorry Jensen, but how could I have known? I mean, you’re gay and young and you were a virgin and…” his voice trails off and he looks a little lost. 

And Jensen is tired. Tired from the baby being sick and end of term studying and the constant stress and worry of parenting. He’s tired and sad and a little lost and disappointed because even after the epic fuck up of how they had met, he had genuinely liked Jared and maybe he was a bit heartsick that they didn’t really stand a chance with the way things were.

So he stands and points at the photo of them all in the hospital speaking softly, and he can hear the tears in his own voice.

“That’s Chris and Dannii. My best friends since I was five years old. This was taken right after Hunter was born. God, they were so proud of her. She was just the cutest thing in the world, and they were so in love.” He chokes up suddenly and is relieved he isn’t looking at Jared. 

It’s a few minutes before he can speak again. 

“They were killed coming home from their engagement dinner. I was babysitting Hunter at the time. It happened real quick. They had made me her godfather and legal guardian in case…” He trails off again, fresh tears pouring down his face. He wipes at them tiredly and sits down again. He looks at his hands and not at Jared.

He keeps talking, just wants to get it all out at once and have Jared leave so he can get some rest and maybe heal the tear he feels in his heart for a million different reasons. 

“I couldn’t not take her, not knowing that was what they wanted. My Mama and Daddy and Chris’s mom help me a lot, so I can go to school. And Chad helps, although he is a walking disaster and not actually allowed to do more than play with her.” He snorts a little at that and brushes his hand across his eyes again and takes another swig of beer. A noise on the monitor catches his attention and he listens carefully, but Hunter was just moving a bit and gurgling in her sleep.

Jared hasn’t said a word in minutes and Jensen finally looks at him again and he can’t decipher the look on Jared’s face, but suddenly he just wants him to leave. Leave him with his sick baby and his baggage filled life, and his grief over the loss of his best friends. Jensen wants to forget he ever laid eyes on Jared. Wants to forget their heated lovemaking and the maybe promise of more that disintegrated into ash the second he heard Jared’s cavalier attitude towards kids.

He says brusquely, “So, now you know the whole story. You can leave now. I need to sleep when Hunter does.” He stands up and Jared stands too, but instead of walking to the door, he walks towards Jensen slowly, his hands coming up like he wants to hold him, but Jensen jerks back, narrowly missing falling over the chair. 

He raises his eyes angrily to Jared’s. It’s easier to be angry and defensive than hurt. So he goes with it. He almost snarls and Jared stops walking. 

“Just get the fuck out of here Jared. I don’t need you and I don’t want you. And I know you don’t want me seeing as how I’m a little more complicated than the hooker pizza boy you thought you were getting.” 

The words are dripping venom and he isn’t that proud of himself for what he is saying. Because Jared couldn’t have known that Jensen was a Dad and why he was one and Jared is like 23 years old and rich and gorgeous and has this amazing life and Jensen is small and insignificant and nothing. And it makes him angry.

Jared stands there for a minute more before he says, “Jensen, I’m sorry that you took my words over dinner to heart, and thought for one second that you being a father would mean I wouldn’t want to date you, or be with you. Because if I had known, I wouldn’t have-“ and he stops and swallows and Jensen can’t help but look up at him, anger fading slightly at the wavering of Jared’s voice. Jared shakes his head slightly and then his gaze comes crashing into Jensen’s once again and Jensen sort of hates himself for feeling his heart skip a beat just having those hazel eyes trained on him again. 

“For the record Jen,” Jared continues, “I can’t imagine what you went through, the loss of your friends, taking on their child for them, it must be so hard,” and Jensen shrugs but Jared keeps talking.

“I can honestly say, I didn’t think I could admire anyone as much as I do you right now. You must be the strongest, most unselfish man on the planet.” 

Jensen pauses and sucks in a breath of surprise. Jared just said what?

Jared is approaching him slowly again, but Jensen stays still, watching him with eyes full of tears, until Jared is so near, he can smell the clean scent of the man and his vision blurs slightly. Jared’s hands reach up and cradle his face and the heat of it almost makes Jensen sway forward. 

“I’ve been falling for you every time I’ve seen you since that first ridiculous night,” Jared says softly, long fingers cupping Jensen’s jaw, forcing him to look up into Jared’s intense eyes. He wants to protest but he can’t think with Jared touching him and he closes his eyes against the feelings welling up in him. 

Jared’s slips brush over his lightly and he whispers into Jensen’s mouth, “But seeing you with your little girl, your heart broken over your friends, your obvious love for your daughter? I think I can say I am officially gone over you.” He kisses Jensen gently once more, just a bare brush of lips and god Jensen wants more. 

But Jared pulls away suddenly and steps back, tears in his own eyes and small smile on his lips. He stands taller than he has since he entered Jensen’s apartment and turned his world upside down once again. He stuffs his hands in pockets, takes a deep breath and rocks a little on his heels. 

“I wanna chance with you, Jensen. You having a child doesn’t change that. I wanted you months ago when you showed up with a pizza, and I wanted you when I finally saw you again, and I wanted you last week at dinner. I want to get to know you, all about you. And now that I know what you’re doing? WHY you’re doing it? That just makes me want to know even more. Makes me want to know everything about how someone becomes as amazing as you are. Cause you are. Amazing.”

He walks back towards the door and says, “Imma gonna leave now cause you said you need to sleep and I can see how tired you are, and I probably made that worse, so I’m sorry for that. But I ain’t giving up on you Jensen. You may not want me right now and I can understand that, but I’m not gonna give up until I prove that I deserve you.” 

And with that, he’s gone.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a texting conversation that I italicized but may not come out that way once I post. I am sure you all will get it, but I apologize if it doesn't. I can't figure out how to change it.

Chapter Four

Three weeks later

JARED

There are a couple of things that can never be said about Jared. No one can ever say that Jared doesn’t go all out when he sets his sights on something. They can’t ever say he doesn’t give it is absolute all when he decides on a goal. And they can’t ever say he has failed at anything except skiing (which is a stupid sport and Mike should just shut the fuck up about it already) But Jensen? Jared is failing at Jensen pretty epically and it kinda sucks ass.

Sure, he had already pretty much failed at Jensen, what with the mistaking him for a hooker and then insulting him over dinner. But since then? Jared has made it a mission to get Jensen to talk to him, to smile at him, to notice him, hell to even answer him would be a start. And three weeks later?

Zip, zilch, nada, big fat zero.

So, he’s on edge. Understandably.

He had started out by sending Jensen the biggest bouquet of daisies on the planet with a simple note that read, “Mama always says that these are the happiest flowers, so I hope they make Hunter feel better and smile a bit.”

Nothing.

A few days later he sends Jensen a box of chocolates and a rattle that he saw that was shaped like a wizard’s wand for Hunter with a note that says, “Thinking of you and Hunter and hope she is well again and that you like chocolate.”

Nope.

Desperate, he finds a new microbrew beer and sends Jensen a case of it, along with a huge pink teddy bear for Hunter with a note that reads, “Thinking of my favorite Dad and his baby girl and hope you’re doing well”

Yep. Still nothing.

He finds a really cute pink tee shirt that says, “Daddy’s little angel” and sends it along with a letter for Jensen, apologizing for being an ass and telling him all the reasons he wants to get to know him and see him again. 

You guessed it. Not a word.

He intersperses his gifts with texts that are stupid memes he finds online, or just “good morning” and “hope you have a great day” or “good luck with exams” and gets exactly zero responses. 

He is desperate.

And failing tragically. 

He has sort of driven by Jensen’s apartment a lot and it would be creepy (ok its creepy) but he can’t help it. He sees two different woman and a man come and go at different times and notes the time that Jensen leaves every day for school. He even followed him to work one night and maybe, sort of followed him for a couple of hours as he delivers pizza. 

Yeah, he’s a fucking stalker. 

Tom and Mike both think he’s lost his mind and they aren’t far off. 

He is about to give up the whole gift thing because it’s not working and he feels like an asshat for looking so obviously desperate when he finds himself wandering around a department store one day and into the toy section. 

And spots a laptop for young children. He isn’t sure exactly how old Hunter is, but it’s awesome and you can buy tons of learning games for it and he buys it without thinking because he would have wanted one. And maybe he buys ten games for it.

He rushes back to his house with glittering pink wrapping paper, excited to get it over to Jensen and Hunter. While wrapping it he realizes that he has nothing to send Jensen, and panics a bit.

Hit with a sudden inspiration he sits down at his own laptop and types quickly, falling into computer programmer land, where he isn’t a loser trying desperately to win the heart of a guy who won’t give him the time of day, but where he is awesome and everyone thinks he rules. 

He finishes the program, loads it onto a flash drive and wraps the flash drive in glittery paper. He calls the kids who delivers to Jensen for him (and the fact he has actually had to hire a kid to deliver gifts for him for weeks doesn’t escape him) and hands the packages over. 

 

He doesn’t really expect anything, since nothing he has done has worked so when his phone buzzes later that night while he nurses a beer and watches the game, he picks it up unthinkingly before his heart ends up in his throat when he sees it’s a message from Jensen. 

“A laptop? A little extreme for a one yr old, don’t you think?”

So, it’s not “I love you Jared, please be mine” but it’s not “fuck off and die” so Jared will take what he can get. 

He types back quickly, smiling the whole time.

“It’s educational. It teaches colors, and numbers and animals. Does she like it?”

He holds his breath and stares at his phone like he can will a message to appear.

When it does, grins wildly before he even opens it.

“I dunno, she seems more fascinated by the box it came in”

Jared laughs out right, because yeah, that figures.

He types back

“Did you like what I sent for you?”

He waits, his breath stopped and prays he will get a reply.

When it comes, he gasps out his breath and hurries to open it.

“What the hell is it?”

Ok, well Jared can understand that one.

He answers quickly. 

“It’s a program to track everything about your daughter. You upload information into it and it calculates weight gain, height, various milestones like teeth coming in. It will tell you if she is on target for different things, and gives you ideas on how to attack things like potty training. You can upload photos to it and medical records and there is a journal attached to it so you can write to her as she grows.”

He sends the message and sets his phone down, rushing to the kitchen to get a beer. When he runs back to the living room, he is reminded that his phone is a cell phone and he didn’t have to dash around like an idiot, he could have just brought it with him.

He’s nervous, give him a break.

A reply is waiting for him. 

“Huh, I didn’t know there was stuff like that out there.”

Jared takes a deep breath and a leap of faith and types back a reply.

“There isn’t really. I made it for you. For you and Hunter.” 

He sends it and takes a giant swig of beer, trying to calm himself. 

He isn’t expecting the reply that comes, but when he sees it, he yells “YES” loudly and fist pumps into the air. 

“Friday night. 6 pm. Dinner at my place. I’ll cook, you bring the wine. Don’t do anything else, including and up to buying my baby a fricking car”

Jared smiles like a crazy man, and then thinks about what kind of car Hunter might like when she is 16.

He isn’t all that surprised when he gets a text a minute later that says,

“I mean it Jared, no cars.”

He types back his reply and sends it with a smile.

“Agreed, no cars. See you on Friday. Can’t wait”

And he really, really can’t.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

JENSEN

It’s Friday night and Jensen is like a man possessed, running from the living room where Chad is playing with Hunter to the bedroom to get dressed and back to the kitchen to check on the lasagna he made for dinner. 

Chad looks up at him as he zooms past and says, “You’re gonna give yourself a heart attack Jenny, calm the hell down.” Then he leans over and kisses Hunter who is still playing with the damn laptop box and says, “You’re Daddy is nervous.”

And he is. He really, really is. But Chad doesn’t need to tell his daughter that shit.

So he calls from the bedroom as he pushes his jeans down his legs. “Don’t call me Jenny, fucker.”

Chad cackles and Hunter copies him.

And Jensen thinks letting Chad spend so much time around his daughter may not be the wisest parenting choice he has made thus far. 

Jared is coming for dinner and try as he might, Jensen can’t NOT be nervous about that. After Jared had left that day, despite his words, Jensen hadn’t held out much hope he would hear from the other man, so when the gifts and texts messages began rolling in, he hadn’t known what to do.

So he did nothing, and wondered what the hell Jared was thinking. He expected it to stop after a week or so of no response and when it didn’t, he again had no clue how to proceed.

Because he likes Jared way more than he should and he feels like he is setting himself up for the world’s biggest cosmic joke, and he feels powerless to stop it. 

But when he got the last gifts, and Jared had admitted to writing that program for him and Hunter, he had broken. Who the hell wouldn’t have after that? One of the world’s leading computer programmers creates a program for you and your baby and you damn well make him dinner. 

OK maybe not, but man, he was worn down by the sheer thought that had gone into that thing. 

Jared wasn’t stopping and Jensen wasn’t strong enough to keep not responding and so, despite his cynicism he issued the invite to Jared for dinner.

Jared, who was gorgeous and thoughtful and stupid and amazing and who would be there in less than 20 minutes. 

Jensen groans a bit and grabs his clean jeans and rushes out into the kitchen again, whizzing past Chad who cackles once again, which Hunter promptly mimics. 

Fuck.

He hopes he can survive the night.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Jensen is in the kitchen preparing the garlic bread when the doorbell rings and he zips his head around towards the noise but Chad is already up with Hunter balanced in his arms saying loudly, “I’ll get it Jenny.”

Jensen’s response is immediate. “Don’t call me Jenny, Fucker” (and he has to remember to STOP swearing in front of Hunter now that she appears to be mimicking. )

He spreads more garlic butter evenly on the bread as he hears Chad say loudly, “Can I help you?” Like he has NO idea at all why Jared is standing there. He really is a fucker. 

He hears Jared stammer out, “Uhm, is uh-Jensen here?”

Jensen comes out of the kitchen and smiles at Jared because damn, the man looks amazing in faded jeans and a soft looking gray tee shirt, hair a mess as usual, but when he spots Jensen he smiles widely and says, “No car.”

Jensen laughs and says, “Come on in, this is Chad and he’s just messing with you.” 

Jared steps past Chad warily because Chad is giving him angry eyes and he stops for just a moment to say hi softly to Hunter and touches her face with a long finger, before continuing on to Jensen. He holds out two different bags. Jensen takes them and sees two bottles of the wine they had that night at the restaurant and some sort of chocolate cake. 

“Thanks,” he says, giving Jared a genuine smile. “I hadn’t thought of dessert.” 

Jared smiles back at him and says, “I never forget about dessert,” and his eyes darken a bit and Jensen feels himself flush. 

“Yeah well, you have a weird obsession with food,” and he ducks his head as he moves towards the bread again, bending to place it in the oven.

He hears Jared exhale softly and mutter, “Among other things,” he’s glad he’s facing away for the moment.

Jared says softly after a moment, “S real good to see you again Jensen, thanks for inviting me.”

Jensen turns to him and smiles, his eyes catching on hazel and murmurs, “Yeah you too.”

And it really is good to see Jared.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Chad had stuck around for about 20 minutes before Jensen relieved him. Taking Hunter out of Chad’s arms he had been subjected to comments like, “Oh thank god, I was growing a uterus” to the equally unbelievable, “should I shower, do you think Sophia can smell baby on me?”

Yeah, Jensen has stupid friends who say stupid shit.

Chad bangs out the door a few minutes later, kissing Jensen on the cheek while (somewhat impressively) telling Jared he would rip his dick off if he hurt Jensen. Jensen kind of wants to punch him and kiss him at the same time. Not a new feeling when dealing with Chad.

So Jensen serves dinner at his rickety kitchen table and Hunter in her high chair and he knows it’s not ideal, certainly not the kind of meal they had shared at the steakhouse. Probably the least sophisticated situation ever, if he thinks too hard about it. But Jared is eating enthusiastically while making little moaning sounds and mouthful comments like “S good, Jen”, all the while keeping a conversation going with Jensen’s 1 year old about her new computer and why she should give it a try. 

Jensen watches him over his own dinner, eyes glancing between Jared and Hunter. Jared is smiling widely at Hunter and gamely leans over and opens his mouth wide for her to feed him some of her dinner (which ends up on the side of Jared’s face). But Hunter laughs and Jared laughs and puts one long finger to the end of her nose saying “BOOP” loudly and she giggles again. Jensen can feel himself smiling. 

Once Jared had eaten two helpings of lasagna, Hunter has smeared more food on him, pulled his hair twice and stuck her finger up Jared’s nose, Jensen declares dinner over and stands up, reaching for Hunter. He smiles down at Jared and says, “I’m going to give her a quick bath and get her ready for bed. Just be a few minutes.”

Jared smiles up at him and brushes his hair out of his eyes and says, “Take your time, it’ll give my stomach a chance to digest dinner and make way for dessert.”

Jensen laughs and carries Hunter into the bathroom. 

Finally, she is bathed, powdered, diapered and in a fresh sleeper. He takes her into her room and tucks her into crib. Standing to the side he sings softly to her as her big blue eyes slowly droop closed. He watches her sleep for a moment, letting his mind wander. He thinks about Chris and Danni, how much he misses them, how much it hurts him that they are gone, how unfair it all seems. He wonders if he could ever have the love that he saw between his best friends for himself. Jared seems like a genuinely good guy and Jensen likes him, and Jared seems perfectly OK with Hunter and Jensen’s life. But something makes him hesitant to start anything with Jared. Maybe it’s Hunter, and maybe it’s him. He isn’t sure. All he knows is, he was attracted to Jared at the hotel when they first met, liked him a lot over the dinner they shared, was intrigued by him after all the gifts and texts had started and now seeing him with Hunter and how easy Jared seemed to fit into Jensen’s life? He was terrified he would fall in love with him. He was probably half way there already. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he reaches down one more time to tuck the blanket around his daughter and with a deep breath leaves the room.

JARED

Once Jensen had gone to bathe his daughter, Jared had quickly gotten up and began cleaning up from their dinner. His Mama had raised him right and he was determined to show Jensen that. As he scraped plates and placed them in the hot soapy water, he wiped down Hunter’s high chair and thought about the night so far.

He had been more nervous than he had ever been arriving at Jensen’s and it hadn’t helped that his friend Chad had opened the door acting like Jared was an annoying telemarketer rather than an invited guest. But Jensen had been welcoming and seemed happy to see him and Jared had found himself relaxing quickly.

Over dinner he had played with Hunter, and the little girl was intoxicating. Dark red curls on her head and the brightest cornflower blue eyes he had ever seen, with a giggle and smile that had him doing silly things just to see and hear it. She was intelligent though, her curiosity shone through as she grabbed for him, touching him, smearing food on him, violating his nose. Obviously trying to figure him out. She seemed to like him OK, and he knew that would be as important to Jensen as Jensen liking him.

Once had finished the dishes and put away the leftover lasagna, he poured them each a glass of wine and cut a slice of cake and had taken them into the small living room. He sat down and found himself staring at all the pictures again. The pictures of Jensen and the people in his world, his eyes drawn to the one of Jensen and his two best friends, Hunter’s parents. 

In it, they are all about 13 years old he would guess. Jensen is sitting cross-legged on the floor, his eyes closed, his mouth open in a laugh, his head tilted to the side as the redhead (Danni, his mind remembers) tries to place a silly hat that looks like a birthday cake on his head. She is laughing as she leans over and Chris is standing behind Jensen, a big smile on his face but his eyes trained on her, not the hat or Jensen. And Jared sees it. The adoration and love in that boy’s expression is unmistakable and he thinks he knows why that picture is hanging on the wall. 

A soft noise jerks him out of his musings and his eyes go to a baby monitor placed by an armchair, a small smile playing on his lips. He can hear Jensen singing softly to his daughter, and the soft melody makes his heart ache just a little bit. Every piece of himself that Jensen slowly reveals to Jared feels like a gift, something to cherish and hold on to. 

After a few minutes Jensen comes out of Hunter’s room, smiling at him as he makes his way to the kitchen. A moment later he calls, “Thanks Jared, you didn’t have to do that.”

He walks back to the living room, taking a seat beside Jared on the couch and Jared’s breath catches. Jensen is beautiful, spiked hair mussed up a little bit, soft worn jeans, faded green tee shirt, face slightly flushed from the wine. Jared wants to reach out and touch him, ensure himself he is real, but he knows that’s not the right move, so instead he hands Jensen a glass of wine and leans back on the sofa.

“My pleasure,” he says to Jensen instead of the million other things he wants to say. 

They are quiet for a moment, enjoying the silence and Jensen takes a sip of wine and he looks a little nervous. Jared adjusts his position on the couch and says impulsively, “Tell me about Chris and Danni.”

Just for a moment, Jensen’s face clouds, grief painted on his expression, but then he nods, puts down the glass of wine and begins to speak. He regales Jared with stories of the three of them as children, the time Jensen bet Chris he couldn’t fit a nickel up his nose (Chris had to go to the ER to have it removed) the time Danni convinced Jensen if he ate a worm he would become a superhero (no hospital visit but he had been sick for two days), the day Dannii had kicked John Wilson in the balls because he called Jensen a queer. From the way Jensen spoke of them, Jared could tell their lives had been intertwined completely and he felt like he could understand why Jensen had kept Hunter, why their wishes had meant everything to him. His heart hurt for the young couple who never had a chance with their child and the young man in front of him, so brave in his resolve to do right by them. 

Jared in turn, tells Jensen about his childhood. How his intelligence had set him apart from his peers at an early age, isolated him to a debilitating degree. How being moved up in school so many times had made him insecure and unable to form friendships easily. He tells Jensen about entering high school at twelve years old, terrified. His brother had just graduated and he didn’t know any of the students. People had stared at him and laughed, pushing him in the halls and making fun of how small he was and a stain of blush had been permanent on his cheeks. He had begun making an argument in his head to his parents to convince them to let him homeschool his way out of high school so he wouldn’t have to come back to this awful place. He had walked into his last period before lunch, advanced chemistry and sat at the back table, hunching down on himself in hopes that no one would notice him. As students had begun filling the classroom he had kept his head down, hoping to not draw attention to himself.

A loud voice beside him made him jerk his head up. There was a guy standing there looking down at him curiously. He was a nice looking guy, short brown hair, slightly squinty eyes, but his face was open and friendly. Behind him stood an attractive dark haired boy, blue eyes focused on Jared. The loud one spoke first. 

“You lost, kid?”

Jared, confused had looked down at his schedule. He shook his head and with a trembling hand held out the piece of paper to the older boy. “N-n-no.”

The boy scanned it quickly and said, “Padalecki, huh? Jeff’s little brother?”

Jared nodded quickly, the blush reappearing on his face. He bit his lip and looked down, waiting for the taunts. 

Instead the paper was gently placed in front of him and he felt a hand on his shoulder. “I’m Mike, and this is my partner in life although he doesn’t know it yet, Tom.” Jared looked up quickly and saw both older boys were smiling at him, although Tom had rolled his eyes at Mike’s comment. 

He managed to say, “I’m Jared,” and Mike gave him a grin, and sat down beside him, motioning for Tom to sit down to. As Tom settled in Mike turned to him again and spoke.

“So, how much does it suck ass to be in high school before you’ve had your first wet dream, huh?”

Jared jerks his eyes to Mike and swallows, unable to speak for a minute. He hears Tom say in a quiet voice, “Geez Mike, give the kid a break, he looks terrified. Who wouldn’t be stuck sitting beside your insane ass.”

“You love my ass,” Mike quips back, his attention still on Jared. Jared sees Tom rolls his eyes again, small smile on his face as he opens his notebook and digs in his bag for a pen. It doesn’t escape Jared that Mike is still looking at him like he’s expecting an answer.

“Uhhh,” Jared says eloquently, not sure how to take this unwanted attention from the guy. 

Mike snorts, “That’s the sort of verbosity I would expect from a brainiac,” but he is smiling at Jared. He leans close and says in a low voice, “Listen kid, don’t let these assholes get to you. This place is the breeding ground for the malcontent and perpetually stupid. You stick with me and Tommy and we’ll make sure you make it out of this place alive.”

Jared is stunned, and doesn’t respond for a full minute. Mike and Tom are both looking at him now, but not unkindly.

Jared breaks his eyes away from them and looks down at his notebook, muttering, “Thanks,” and his tone must make it obvious he doesn’t believe Mike’s words.

The class goes by quickly and Jared realizes that both Mike and Tom are actually pretty smart guys, although Mike answers each of the questions the teacher directed at him with a philosophical comment. The bell rings and Jared starts jamming his notebook into his bag, dreading lunch hour, hoping he can find a quiet place to sit by himself and read that he won’t be bothered. 

When he stands up he is shocked to see Mike and Tom still standing there, waiting on him with expectant looks on their faces. 

Mike catches the confusion in Jared’s expression, grabs him by the arm and says, “You didn’t think we were going to leave you to the wolves did ya? Come and have lunch with us.”

Jared trips along beside them, only half hearing Mikes’ constant stream of chatter about the school, the teachers, the quality of the cafeteria lunch. 

They enter the crowded cafeteria and Jared tries to shrink away but Mike patiently guides him through the lunch line and then towards a table. All three of them sit down and dig into their food. Well Mike and Tom dig in, Jared just picks at his, stomach too nervous to actually eat anything.

From a few tables away, from a crowded table a guy calls out, “Hey Rosenbaum, you finally convince Welling to adopt an assbaby with you?” Everyone at the table laughs and Jared feels his face heat up and ducks under his bangs. 

Jared fully expects Mike to say something outrageous so he is shocked when it’s Tom who stands up, facing the other table and says, “You jealous Rosey won’t give it up for you, Keller?” His voice is deep and Jared looks up at him to see that Tom is not only handsome, he is actually tall and well built. 

Keller holds Tom’s gaze for one moment before glancing away and muttering, “Whatever,” before beginning to eat his lunch again.

Tom sits back down and Mike says under his breath, “It makes me so horny when you defend my honor like that, lover,” and Tom punches him in the arm and hisses, “Shut up Mike,” ears going pink. 

Jared is confused. He has no idea what just happened. He manages to eat a few bites of lunch and even smile at Mike’s antics a few times, although in Jared’s opinion, straws up his nose to imitate a walrus was a bit much.

To his astonishment, Mike and Tom walk him to his next class and proceed to meet him after every other class until the end of the day. While he fumbles with his locker, Mike says, “How you getting home?” Jared shrugs and says, “Walking. I don’t live too far.”

“Nonsense,” Mike says, grabbing Jared by the elbow and dragging him towards the parking lot. “Your chariot awaits,” he announces grandly and gestures to Tom standing by a blue pickup truck. 

It’s a double cab so Jared hops in the back and clips on his seatbelt. They drive to Jared’s house in relative silence and when Tom stops, Jared says, “Thanks for the ride.” 

Tom smiles back at him and Mike hits his shoulder lightly and says, “See you tomorrow, kid.”

After that, Tom and Mike are a mainstay in Jared’s life and Jared is positive the only reason he wasn’t teased or bullied was their friendship. Over time he opened up to them, and they became his best friends. He finished high school in two years and graduated with them, all of them applying and getting into UT. 

When he left UT two years in with two bachelors and a master’s degree for MIT, they had stayed in touch, visiting him constantly, making crazy phone calls, and hanging with him whenever he got home for school breaks. It had made perfect sense to go into business with them.

Jared notices after a while that he has been rambling incessantly about his friends and his face flushes and he grabs up his wine glass for something to do, taking a large gulp. Jensen doesn’t look put off at his verbal diarrhea though, he has a small smile on his face and says softly, “They sound like good guys.”

Jared nods enthusiastically and says, “Oh yeah, they’re the best, I can’t wait for you to meet them.” And then stops short, eyes jerking to Jensen. Way to play it cool and casual, Padalecki. 

Instead, Jensen just chuckles and raises his own wine glass with a wink at Jared and says, “I’d like that.”

Jared couldn’t keep himself from smiling back at Jensen if you held a gun to his head.

They spend another couple of hours chatting, Jensen about school and Hunter, Jared about the business and random other things that pop into his head. Jensen seems at ease with him and over the course of the evening they have moved closer to one another, Jensen sitting sideways on the couch facing Jared, one leg drawn up underneath him, touching Jared’s thigh. 

It seems perfectly natural when Jensen leans forward and pressing his lips to Jared’s, but it makes butterflies start to dance in Jared’s belly and he can’t suppress the low moan that erupts from him as he kisses Jensen back. Jensen’s tongue slides across Jared’s lips and he opens his mouth eagerly, drawing Jensen’s tongue in to play with his own. 

Jensen makes a small sound and shifts, throwing one leg over Jared, moving himself to straddle Jared’s lap. Jared grasps his hips and pulls him down, both of them groaning when hard cocks press against one another through layers of denim. Jensen move slowly, circling his hips, grinding down on Jared and Jared pulls him down hard, thrusting up at the same time, both of them panting into one another’s mouths.

It’s not about getting off and neither of them seems intent on hitting the finish line, instead it’s a seductive game of who can turn the other on more. A game Jared is sure Jensen is winning if the straining bulge in his pants is any indication. Despite his lust addled mind, he realizes that he doesn’t want Jensen to think this is all he wants from him, so he begins the monumental task of slowing things down, stops thrusting up and begins to give Jensen slow, sensuous kisses. 

When they break apart, Jensen’s arms are around Jared’s shoulders, tangled in his hair, his forehead resting against Jared’s. Jared moves his hands in circles on Jensen’s neck, struggling to get his breathing under control. When he speaks, he barely recognizes the husky, lust-filled tone.

“I had a really good time tonight, Jen,” he says, moving his lips to kiss Jensen’s jaw and neck. 

“Me too,” Jensen says breathily, and Jared revels in the obviously turned on tone of Jensen’s words.

“I should get going,” he says reluctantly. Jensen pulls back then, looking Jared in the eyes, his expression turning from aroused to wary in a split second. 

Jared pulls him closer and lightly kisses his lips before saying, “I want this, Jen. I want you. But I wanna do it right this time. Date you, get to know you, get to know Hunter, let you get to know me.”

Jensen nods and a small smile appears on his face as he slowly moves himself off Jared’s lap, both of them groaning at the loss of contact. 

They kiss for a few minutes on the couch and Jensen walks him to the door, pulling Jared down for a long, heated erotic kiss before slapping Jared on the ass and saying, “See you soon,” with a saucy smile on his lips. 

Jared is still standing there dumbfounded when Jensen closes the door. And when he gets to his car, he isn’t entirely sure he walked or floated there. But he grins the whole drive home.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time posting at this community, although I do a lot of reading here! Please take a second to let me know what you think of the story and if I should post more. I love to talk to other writers!


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